The opening of Zhongwei Yuyuan Fushan a couple of years ago, with its adjoining vegetable farm, came in response to a spate of food safety scandals that hit the front pages of Chinese newspapers. We read about chemical pesticides and fertilizers, heavy metals, and cancer-causing additives such as paraffin, dichlorvos, Sudan Red, sulphur, hormones, mercury and other unthinkable materials.

Restaurant owner Zhu Huaibin, a down-to-earth man with a walnut face, told METRO that dishes at his restaurant are prepared with fresh herbs picked from the surrounding gardens and are free of chemical pesticides. He said proudly that it takes 10 minutes for the food to go from the garden to the table.

A spectacular soup offered here is silver thread and sanqi, which is made with slivers of pseudo-ginseng (sanqi) sprout and bean curd in a clear thick soup, akin to shark fin soup, except that silver thread soup is environmentally friendly and unpretentious. The light taste is guaranteed to satisfy the most demanding palate.